Just three months into 2025, the United States has recorded the most measles cases in a single year since a 2019 wave, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows. The majority of the infections have been reported in an outbreak in Texas that has led to the death of a child.
Measles is one of the most contagious infectious diseases, and in some cases can cause severe infections in the lungs and brain that can lead to cognitive issues, deafness or death. But doctors and health officials say the vaccine, which is normally given as part of the combination measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, is highly safe and effective.
While most people’s symptoms improve, about 1 in 5 unvaccinated people who get measles will be hospitalized. About 1 out of every 1,000 children with measles will develop brain swelling that can lead to brain damage, and up to 3 of every 1,000 children who become infected will die, the CDC says.
The largest outbreak so far this year has been in West Texas, but cases have been reported in a number of other states around the country as well.
The CBS News data team is tracking confirmed measles cases nationwide, updating this page as new data is released by state health departments and the CDC. (Michigan reported its first case of the year on March 14, in an adult who had traveled overseas; it will appear on the map, along with any other newly reported cases, in the next CDC update on Friday.)
The Texas outbreak is primarily affecting children and teenagers, nearly all of whom were unvaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status. State and local health officials confirmed the patient who died was an unvaccinated school-aged child.
The last measles death in the U.S. was in 2019 when a 37-year-old man died from measles complicated by meningitis in California, according to CDC data.
The highest number of confirmed cases in the U.S. in recent years was 1,274 in 2019, driven by outbreaks in New York, California and Washington state, but most years the total has been much lower.
Health experts point to lower vaccination rates as a reason for increases in preventable diseases like the measles.
CDC data shows about 93% of kindergarteners in the U.S. were vaccinated against measles during the 2021-2022 school year and only 92.7% in the 2023-2024 school year. This is down from 95.2% during the 2019-2020 school year — a critical threshold to keep people safe.
“When more than 95% of people in a community are vaccinated, most people are protected through community immunity (herd immunity),” the CDC states.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a noted vaccine skeptic, voiced support for the measles vaccine in early March amid the deadly outbreak in the Southwest, after previously downplaying the growing cases and making numerous false and misleading claims about the safety of the MMR vaccine.
Kennedy said he was “deeply concerned about the recent measles outbreak,” in an opinion piece published by Fox News.
“Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons,” he wrote.
